


Somebody to Someone

by KorrohShipper



Category: Hollywood (TV 2020)
Genre: Academy Awards, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Jack and Claire — Freeform, Season 1 Episode 7: A Hollywood Ending AU, proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:47:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26208931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KorrohShipper/pseuds/KorrohShipper
Summary: What if Jack won?
Relationships: Jack Castello/Claire Wood
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	Somebody to Someone

**Author's Note:**

> Been toying with this idea for a while because seriously, I love Jack/Claire.

When the applause slowly faded and died down, Jack's heart and throat constricted. Claire's hand reached out for his and gave him a smile that barely contained her excitement. 

"And now," the host announced, "to present the award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, Ernest Borgnine."

The auditorium erupted in calm applause and Jack could just about feel his heart hammering in his chest as the Ernest Borgnine gave the crowd his signature gap-toothed Cheshire cat grin. "Here we go."

Claire leaned in, her chin just meeting the tip of his shoulder as he continued to clap. Taking his nerves for anxiety, she says, "It's gonna be you." 

And, at the moment, when he turned just to catch a glimpse of her in the corner of his eyes, Jack knew that he already won. Not the Oscars of course, but where it really mattered. In the span of their production, he's met all kinds of people and from the strangers that they were, he couldn't imagine his life without them.

Camille was right. Being nominated was an honor enough. It was enough for him. Jack looked over to where his fingers were interwoven with hers and smiled. It's enough for him.

So, he turned to her, raising her hand in his and pressed a kiss against the white of her knuckles. She still probably thought that his shaking bundle nerves was from the nomination, but he couldn't care less now.

"And the nominees are," began Ernest Borgnine, "Jack Castello, Meg; Charles Bickford, The Farmer's Daughter; Richard Widmark, Kiss of Death; Thomas Gomez, Ride the Pink Horse; Edmund Gwenn, Miracle on 34th Street."

The orchestra's percussion began drawing out this drum roll and for a second, when his blood began pounding deeply in his ears, he was hoping for Santa Claus to win.

 _Edmund Gwenn_ , he chants to himself, _come on Edmund Gwenn._

"And the winner is," the envelope was ripped open, "Jack Castello, Meg!"

The people erupted in applause. Rock stood up and gave him a tight embrace, muttering his congratulations. Camille gave him a peck on the cheek and Ray had shook his hand firmly, a grin he couldn't quite contain on his face. 

Archie laughed, clapping wildly and he turned around to see Claire, a proud smile on her face. "I told you," she said, rising on her feet and giving him a kiss planted squarely on his lips. The people behind them cheered at the gesture. "For good luck," she says, winking, and he couldn't help but think that he needed it. 

Still in a daze, he went uo the steps and unto the stage. The applause and claps had quieted down. "Man," he says into the microphone, "I was really hoping that Santa Claus would win." The audience erupted in laughter, even Edmund Gwenn clapped at the gesture but what caught his attention most was the small twinkle of laughter of amusement from Claire stood out, his eyes meeting hers in the ocean of people.

He held up the award, feeling heavy in his hands. "I'd just like to thank the Academy of Motion Pictures for honoring our film, Meg." Archie and Ray had clapped whistled and it had helped his nerves as he laughed breathlessly. "But I cannot possibly accept this award myself."

He blinks away a tear and he smiles, his gaze meeting his friends and family on the audience. "Camille, Rock—" his voice breaks and the ring feels heavy in his pocket, "— _Claire_ ," he almost whispers out her name until he regained composure, "Dick Samuels, Ellen Kincaid, and Avis Amberg. This award belongs to you."

He takes a deep breath, growing more nervous than ever. "When I was young, everyone told me I wouldn't amount to anything, so when I came here, all I wanted was to be somebody—" his hand fidgets towards his pocket, feeling the familiar bulge of the ring, "But I realized just now that winning an award or being somebody doesn't mean anything."

He licks his lips, counting in his head the seconds. Finally, he mustered up all the courage he had in every fiber of his being and focused on Claire, who was still in her seat, eyes wide in anticipation of his speech's every word.

"I realized that all of that doesn't mean a thing unless—" and then suddenly, it feels right. As if they were the only ones in this room, as if she wasn't all the way down there and he was up on that stage, "—unless you're somebody to someone."

He took out the ring and others in audience immediately spotted it. "Claire," there was a veil of hushed silence in the room, almost as if they too were holding their breaths in anticipation of his question, of her answer, "will you make me somebody?"

There was a look of shock on her face, a small unsure smile on that continued to grow and tug at her lips. "What?" 

Now holding the ring by the tip of his fingers, he gazed on her and only on her. His eyes were lined with tears and his vision had blurred but he still gave her the widest smile he could ever give. "Claire Wood, will you marry me?" and he got down on one knee, setting the award aside.

Claire's face shifted from shock and surprise to elation, the back of her pressed against her lips to hold back a happy cry. "Yes! Yes! Of course I will!" Unable to himself, he had left behind the award and ran off the stage and to where Claire stood in the center aisle. Even as his hands shook, he had slipped on the ring unto her finger. 

He took her lips into his, his fingers cupping his cheeks and he couldn't help his face as it had split into a grin. "See?" Jack breathed out as the people around them had clapped, cheering loudly. "This is why I wanted Santa to win."


End file.
